924Board.org

[xmcginness]

Ok, so like many of you, my 931 has tie-dyed carpet from years of sun. Has anyone found a good carpet dye, that doesn't leave the carpet stiff or yucky? The application has to be dumb-ass proof, since I have the uncanny knack of screwing stuff up.

Well, while we are at it? Anyone find a super sweet price on OEM Lloyd's floor mats? I haven't found any of 'em less than $130 bucks.

[dpw928]

On my 80 NA I was able to use Rit fabric dye which I bought at the local super market. The carpet took it well and it got rid of the faded areas.

Dennis
_________________
81 931 5 sp
78 928 5 sp Silver
78 928 AT Euro Black

[wdb]

you could also just buy some regular home carpet . pull the old carpet , cut it up along the 90 degree angles , like aroung the torque tube tunnel , lay it out flat to use as a pattern , to cut new carpet , then use the heat activated tape from carpet store to put new carpet together , so its stays in place and instal . you might be able to get some old carpet from them to use as a practice piece , to work out the details . to avoid mistakes on the new carpet .

[Vince Ponz]

Black spray dye in a can after you use the Rit. Came out perfect.
_________________
"Never let them see you sweat"
77.5 924 modified track car
79 931 Euro stock
88 924S SE
87 911 Targa stock

[PORSCHEV]

interior latex paint ...thinned out with water..then sprayed on. I believe you could use a scrub brush as well to get the same effect on small areas. It will leave the carpet a bit "crunchy", but after it dries just use a clean scrub brush and it softens it up pretty well.
_________________
1976 924
5 lug conversion, 17'C2 wheels,custom body work,327 vette engine.

1978-#53 "D" track racer.

[welder]

WDB has the right idea. While installing floors in my much younger days, I learned to bind carpet and it requires no sewing. I wanted to install a completely new interior in the 924, obviously including carpet. I went and bought a superior grade of commercial carpet, (a remnent so it was very cheap). I also bought a excellent pair of heavy duty sissors. a carpet knife with blades, and a hand rug binder, and a roll of 1 inch cloth binding tape. I then used brown paper to cut patterns and traced them onto the carpet and then cut it out with the sissors. I carpeted the tunnel first (with no binding), second I cut matching floor pieces and bound the edges for the front. The pieces fit so well that it required no cement of any kind , for the floor pieces. The tunnel does require cementing for that tight contour and hold. Next I removed the seats and did the sides and floor in back, both requiring binding. Lastly I cut 1 piece to cover the entire back and bound the edges. The look was as good as new maybe better cause the fit was tighter and the binding was a perfect contrast color. You can get the hand binder and cloth binding tape at any commercial carpet center (where they install and sell carpet tools). They will gladly give you a 2 minute demonstration on how to bind as that is how easy it is to learn. The carpet, hand binder, cloth tape , the sissors and knife all total was 130 bucks. Every one who sees the job swears that I had it professionaly done or bought a carpet kit of some sort. When I show them how I did it they are amazed that you can get that look doing it yourself. No my carpet does not fade as I bought a superior grade of carpet such as the type that would go in a bank or hotel in very high traffic areas. As for dying the carpet go to a big hobby shop, or large fabric store and they sell spray on cloth dye. We dye airplane seats that fade over time, they are so good that you can completely change the color scheme. They do not rub off! I have done this to many times to count with fantastic results each time. The carpet on the floor is removable for cleaning and only the tunnel and sides of the back seat area are cemented down. I also did all new leather interior using vinyl substitute and I defy you to tell the difference. Don't buy a a premolded carpet kit because when they ship it they cram it into a small box causing wrinkles that will never come out, and the fit is lousey and defeating the whole "premolded" concept, to say nothing of costing BIG bucks.
_________________
I have a 78 n\a currently under restoration.

[wdb]

and if you have more money than time, this place has carpet for the 924 , I dont know what the quality is like .

http://www.autoupholsterykits.com/

[wdb]

after thinking about it , only the area near the firewall needs to be cut ,where its at an angle , the rest is flat , carpet would lay down the sills along the floor and up and over the tt tunnel ,just have to cut a few wedges out of the carpet to get the angle in the footwell right .

[xmcginness]

Sweet. Thanks for the input guys. I think I'm going to go the dye route since, a) the carpets in good shape except for the color draining out over the years and b) I'm a super wuss and seems like the dye is the easier way to go, hahaha.

[xmcginness]

Gonna try the Rit Dye route tomorrow - wish me luck. Let you all know how it goes!

[Joes924Racer]

Welder you gotta have some pics I used yellow rit dye on the carpeted
ares of the door panel armrest it was tan now its yellow I was gonna carpet
the binding way someday though I have along way to go before Im ready to lay out carpet I need yellow formica panels for the rear sides and front of the door panels where the speaker and window crank is..maybe a few more areas just out back definatly.. side of the cargo area I think I might try some alumi plate in a few areas probly end up just haven the back the hump done and a few other places done like that the rits dye works good
if you dont dilute it too much. What ever you do you gotta have good patterns. I never tried binding I think they sell a sew on border that looks like binding looks pretty good I think I saw it at lowes or home depot.
_________________
1979 porsche 924 Na
1980 porsche Turbo 931GT Replica
Have u ever driven a turbo.

[Sleykin]

Formica door panels sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. It won't be a good sound board for the speakers unless you bond it to something less resonant and it shatters easily. It also has a tendancy to warp whenever it feels like it. It could look really cool though. Bond it to a piece of masonite or wood paneling maybe? Put some foam insulation on the back to kill the vibrations?
_________________
Glenn Neff
Medford, OR
87' 924S

[steveruff]

How is this dye applied, is it brush or spray on?

I've got large areas of fade accross the transmission tunnel etc.

What variety of colour do they supply. I'd like to keep it pretty close to the dark brown that i've got, or did have!
_________________
1980 924 lux, used weekends only.

[xmcginness]

I did the Rit dye. I used the powder in the
standard dark brown. I think they just call it
brown.

My carpets were grey in some places and literally
BLUE in others - where the dye had completely
been erased! The Rit worked pretty well for me.

Here are some tips I found helpful:
Make sure you keep the dye hot. Also, I would
play with the dye darkness. I started out using
more water and less dye - then added dye as
needed to get it darker for the tougher parts.

I would also recomend that you get a new clean
spray bottle (like one you use for windex or
orange cleaner whatever) the other thing I would
get is a squeeze bottle with a twistable top (the
kind mustard comes in). Use the mustard squeeze
bottle for larger areas and the spray bottle for
finer areas.

Use a hair brush to work the carpet over before
you apply the dye - this really helped - I also
used the brush after the dye was dry to work the
threads.

Buy heavy duty kitchen dish gloves - they'll
protect your hands from the dye but most
importantly the HEAT from the hot dye. I used my
hands to work the dye into the carpet.

I let the trunk pieces (which I fully removed)
dry out of doors over the course of the day then
reinstalled them at night (over night I kept the
windows up and hung on the clothes hooks two
moisture absorbers (like the kind you use in
basements) the type I used are called DAMP RID
and are meant to hang in closets (bought them at
Walgreen's) - they sucked up tons of moisture
overnight and left the car smealling clean not
musty - the next day just let it dry out with
windows down.

After you've done it I'd take a damp not wet rag
and rub over the carpet to work out some of the
dye - cuz it will rub off on stuff so watch out!

[ponchojuan]

I just did my 78 924, cocoa brown interior, with the RIT dye ( I used Cocoa brown #20 I purchased at AC Moore Craft Stores.)

It worked great. It doesn't look brand new, but sure looks a whole lot better. For $2.49, and an hour of time, it is a heck of a value.

Only additional recommendations:

Mix a packet of dye with two cups of BOILING water to make sure it completely mixes.
After it cools just a little, put it in a spray bottle. Apply with a scrub brush and work it into the rug. Use a sponge to get it into areas you can't reach with the brush. Removing the seats makes it a whole lot easier, but is not really required.
Wipe off any over spray from the vinyl seats and doors with a paper towel.. It comes right off.
The rear rugs will take a lot of dye. I put on a light coat, then misted water over the rugs to get them wet. Then rubbed the dye into the rugs again. Came out great.
I was able to do the entire interior rugs with one packet, but used the entire mixture.
I also had shamppoed the rugs a few days prior to dying. Don't know if this helped, but the rugs sucked the dye right up.